Kazakhstan, China take their bilateral relationship forward
Almaty, Aug.21 (ANI): China and Kazakhstan have signed several bilateral agreements during the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, which observers and analysts say will galvanize the development of Kazakh-Chinese relations.
Among the agreements inked were one on interaction with the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and development of cross-border, financial and humanitarian cooperation.
In recent years, the two countries have achieved fruitful results from cooperation in economy, trade, energy and transportation.
In 2006 the bilateral trade volume hit USD 8.36 billion, up 22.8 per cent as compared to 2005. During the first half of 2007 the volume of trade turnover reached USD 5.97 billion, up 60.4 per cent as compared to the first half of 2006.
“The volume of commodity trade turnover between Kazakhstan and China will reach USD 10 billion in 2007. According to previous plans, this figure was to be reached only by 2010″, Kazakh President Nazarbayev stated.
In their Joint Communiqué the two parties agreed to cooperate to increase bilateral trade turnover by USD 15 billion by 2015, strike balance between bilateral export and import flows and diversify the structure of commodity trade.
China and Kazakhstan also agreed to the extension of the Sino-Kazakh oil pipeline, linking mainland China to the Caspian Sea, giving Beijing direct access to an energy-rich region controlled by Kazakhstan.
The two parties agreed to extend the existing Atasu-Alashankou pipeline 700 km westward.
The 962.2-kilometer Atasu-Alashankou pipeline was completed in November 2005. The pipeline is ultimately designed to carry 20 million tonnes of crude oil per annum, with an annual output at 10 million tonnes in its initial phases.
Nazarbayev presented a draft of strategy for creating an SCO oil and gas club. The draft Asian energy strategy envisions the establishment of an SCO energy agency, which would be a type of “brain center” and database, while transactions on the market for energy resources could be made through an SCO energy bourse, Nazarbayev said. (ANI)
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